Record-changer spindle

ABSTRACT

A record-changer spindle has a drive shaft which, when moved downward, opens a set of upper pawls to support a plurality of record disks, and when rotated in one direction closes a set of normally open, lower pawls to thereby allow one disk to move downwardly.

llnie Slaves 1; Well? lgata |March 13, 1973 I RECORD-CHANGER SPINDLE[58] Field of Search ..274/l0 S [75] Inventor: Toyonori lgata, lwata,Japan Primary Examiner Leonard Forman [73] Assrgnee: Ploneer ElectronicCorporation, Assistant Examiner chafles E. Phillips Tokyo JapanAttorney-Richard C. Sughrue et al.

[22] Filed: Dec. 14, 1971 211 Appl. No.: 207,943 [57] ABSTRACT Arecord-changer spindle has a drive shaft which,

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data when moved downward, openso setof upper pawls to support a plurality of record disks, and when rotatedDec. 17, 1970 Japan ..45/l33340 in one direction closes a Set f normallyopen lower pawls to thereby allow one disk to move downwardly.

[52] U.S. Cl ..274/l0 S [51] Int. Cl. ..Gllb 17/04 8 Claims, 2 DrawingFigures RECORD-CHANGER SPINDLE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a record-changer spindle incorporated in arecord player of the type which is adapted to play a plurality of disksautomatically and sequentially.

It is an object of the invention to provide a recordchanger spindle.

It is a more detailed object of the invention to provide arecord-changer spindle which has lower pawls permitting the record disksto move downwardly one at a time in response to rotation of a driveshaft.

According to the invention there is provided a record-changer spindleincorporated in an auto record player, which includes upper pawls forsupporting record disks which are adapted to open and shut in responseto upward and downward movement of a drive shaft, and lower pawls forsupporting disks which are adapted to open and shut in response toclockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the drive shaft, whereby thedisks are allowed to move down smoothly and reliably onto a turntableone at a time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTReferring to the drawing, particularly, FIG. 1, a drive shaft 1 is shownwhich is constructed so as to rotate in either direction and movevertically in response to operation of the control mechanism of FIG. 2which is described hereinafter. A bearing 2 for the drive shaft 1 issecured by a pin 4 to a spindle shell 3 functioning also as a turntableshaft. About the drive shaft 1, a collar 5 is fitted and a lower spring7 is interposed between the collar 5 and the bearing 2.

A lower pawl support 8 is backed up by the collar 5 and prevented fromrotating by a vertically movable pin 9 which is slidable in a verticalslot in the spindle shell 3. Three lower pawls 10 are pivotallyconnected to the shaped portion 8a of the lower paw] support 8, and arebiased, by respective leaf springs 11 secured to the lower pawl support8, in an open direction wherein the upper ends of the lower pawls 10project outwardly through windows formed in the spindle shell 3.

A pawl open-shut cam 12 is fixed to the drive shaft 1 and is providedwith hooks 12a which act to close the lower pawls 10 when the cam 12rotates in one direction, i.e., in the clockwise direction as viewed inFIG. 1.

At its upper portion, the spindle shell 3 has a head plug 13, a springstop 14, and a conical cam 15 secured thereto. An upper pawl support 17is vertically movable between the spring stop 14 and the conical cam 15,and is biased downwardly by an upper spring 18. The pawl support 17 issupported by the upper end of the drive shaft 1 which slidably extendsthrough the conical cam 15.

Three upper pawls 19 are supported by the upper pawl support 17 andguided by a support ring 20 to open and closed positions. These pawls 19are normally held in the open position by the conical cam 15 5 whereinthey project outwardly through other windows also formed in the spindleshell 3.

FIG. 2 shows a portion of a control mechanism of a record player whereina control cam 21 is constructed so as to rotate only in one direction,i.e., in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. A camfollower 22 has one end with a projection that is in engagement with thecam face, or engaged in a grove 21a of the control cam 21. The other endof the cam follower 22 engages the lower end of the drive shaft 1 tomove it vertically.

A rotary shaft 23 supports a rotary plate 26 which in turn carries thecam follower 22 and allows rotation of the cam follower in eitherdirection. A pivot arm 24 has one end coupled to an angular shaftportion of the drive shaft 1 for rotating the same in either direction,and the other end formed with an elongated hole in which a coupling pin25 fixed on the cam follower 22 is slidably disposed. Between the driveshaft 1 and the cam follower 22, a movable sensing mechanism (not shown)may be provided to detect the existence of a record disk.

The operation of the afore-described record-changer spindle will now beexplained in conjunction with the control mechanism.

In the initial position wherein the spindle is mounted in the recordplayer, the drive shaft 1, the collar 5, the lower pawl support 8 andthe upper pawl support 17 are in their positions shown in FIG. 1, andthe lower pawls 10 are open and project outwardly of the spindle shell3. Since the upper pawls 19 are not backed up by the conical cam 15,they are retracted inside the spindle shell 3 and shut, as also shown inFIG. 1.

In the above initial position, the one end of the cam follower 22 of thecontrol mechanism shown in FIG. 2 rides on portion A of the groove 21aformed on the underside of the control cam 21, and the portion A isdownwardly convex. The other end of the cam follower 22 assumes a highposition to thereby elevate the drive shaft 1.

In the above state, if a plurality of record disks are put on thespindle from above with their centers aligned about the axis of thespindle, they will be supported by the open lower pawls 10. It will benoted that the gap between the upper pawls 19 and the lower pawls 10 isset to be equal substantially to one and a half of the thickness of onedisk.

Upon the feeding of electric power to the record player to place thesame in an energized state, the control cam 21 starts to rotate in thecounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. In response to rotationof the control cam 21, the one end of the cam follower 22 moves from thedownwardly convex portion A to a downwardly concave portion B of thegroove 21a while in contact with the groove face, so that the other endof the cam follower 22 on the spindle side moves downwardly. Then, owingto the weight of the record disks, the lower pawls 10 and the support 8move downwardly, and the drive shaft 1 is also lowered. Further, sincethe upper pawl support 17 is normally pushed downwardly by the upperspring 18, the upper pawl support 17 moves downwardly to cause the upperpawls 19 to open, owing to their engagement with the cam face of theconical cam 15 secured to the spindle shell 3. Accordingly, the recorddisks, except the lowermost disk being received by the lower pawls 10,are supported by the open upper pawls 19.

In this state, he drive shaft 1 assumes a position lower than theposition before energization when there is no disk on the shaft, becausethe collar 5 normally held at an upper position by the lower spring 7 ismoved downwardly by the weight of the disk, thereby compressing thespring 7.

As the control cam 21 rotates further in a counterclockwise direction,the one end of the cam follower 22 moves towards a zone of the groove21a where the line of the groove curves radially inwardly towards thecenter of the cam 21 rather than following a regular concentric circle,so that the cam follower 22 pivots about the rotary shaft 23 in thenormal direction to thereby rotate the drive shaft 1 in the normaldirection by means of the pivot arm 24 through the pin 25, that is, thedrive shaft 1 rotates in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1.

Upon this clockwise rotation of the drive shaft 1, the pawl open-shutcam 12 is rotated in the same direction to shut the lower pawls 10through the action of the hooks 12a, while resisting the force of theleaf springs 11, so that the record disk supported by the lower pawls 10is allowed to fall down onto the turntable (not shown).

Thereafter, as the control cam 21 rotates further in thecounterclockwise direction, the one end of the cam follower 22 moves toa portion D of the groove 21a, whereby the rotary shaft 23 rotatesreversely to thereby rotate the drive shaft 1 in the counterclockwisedirection through the pivot arm 24, so that the lower pawls 10 arereleased from the hooks 12a and caused to open by the force of the leafsprings 11.

As the control cam 21 rotates even further, the one end of the camfollower 22 moves from the portion D to the portion E, and then to aportion F which is a downwardly convex portion. As the one end of thecam follower 22 reaches the downwardly convex position F, the other endthereof moves upwardly to thereby cause the drive shaft 1 to moveupwardly, so that the record disks supported by the upper pawls 19 arenow supported by the lower pawls 10.

Thereafter, the control cam 21 rotates further through about 180 andthen stops, during which a tone arm (not shown) moves towards the recorddisk on the turntable and engages it.

Upon completion of playing of the disk on the turntable, the tone arm isreturned onto a rest member, and the control cam 21 rotates through thelast half rotation and then again assumes its initial position.

Now it should be noted that the groove 21a of the control cam 21 hasfurther a downwardly concave portion G leading to the first downwardlyconvex position A. Thus, the cam follower 22 is moved or swung at theend of the one cycle before the control cam 21 finishes its one rotationcompletely to thereby move its other end downwardly on the spindle side,so that the lower end of the drive shaft 1 is free.

In case there are one or more record disks supported by the lower pawls10, the drive shaft 1 is caused to move downwardly by the disks throughthe lower pawls 10 and the collar 5. In response to this downwardmovement, the sensing mechanism (not shown) operates to cause thecontrol cam 21 to rotate again, whereby one record disk is allowed tofall downwardly onto the turntable so as to be played, as describedhereinabove.

If there is no disk on the spindle, the drive shaft 1 does not movedownwardly so that the record player is stopped.

The disks whose playing has completed can be easily removed from theplayer by pushing the lower pawls 10 into the inside of the spindleshell 3 against the force of the leaf springs 11.

According to the instant invention, as described hereinabove, which isdifferent from a system where lower pawls open and shut in response toup and down movement, the lower pawls allowing the record disks to falldown one at a time are closed by the hooks ofa cam secured to the driveshaft in response to rotation of the drive shaft, so that each diskfalls down onto the turntable smoothly and reliably.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the pawl open-shut cam12 is held rotatably on the spindle shell 3 and is engaged with thedrive shaft 1 slidably in the vertical direction. The lower spring 7 iseliminated, so that the drive shaft 1 and lower pawls 10 are maintainedin the upward position by the cam follower 22.

What is claimed is:

1. A spindle for a record changer having a control mechanism, saidspindle comprising: a drive shaft, a spindle shell surrounding saiddrive shaft, said spindle shell being formed with windows,

said drive shaft adapted to move vertically in said shell and rotate ineither direction in response to operation of the control mechanism ofthe record player,

a lower pawl support mounted on said drive shaft,

said lower pawl support being keyed to said spindle shell to allowvertical movement relative thereto, but prevent rotational movementrelative thereto,

lower pawls for supporting records, said pawls being pivotally connectedto said lower pawl support and being movable to open and closedpositions,

means cooperating with said lower pawl support for biasing each of saidlower pawls to an open position,

a first cam engaged with said drive shaft and engageable with said lowerpawls to move them to a closed position in response to rotation of saiddrive shaft,

an upper pawl support mounted on said drive shaft,

means for biasing said upper pawl support in a downward direction,

a spindle shell surrounding said drive shaft,

a second cam fixed to said spindle shell below said upper pawl support,and

upper pawls for supporting records, said upper pawls being mounted onsaid upper pawl support and being movable to an open position byengagement with said second cam when said drive shaft moves downwardlyand said upper pawl support is in its lower position, said upper pawlsbeing movable to a closed position by engagement with said spindle shellwhen said drive shaft is moved upwardly and said upper pawl support isin its upper position said upper and lower pawls are projected throughsaid windows in said open position and retracted through said windows ina closed position.

2. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein there arethree lower pawls and three upper pawls.

3. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said driveshaft is adapted to move downwardly relative to said spindle shell whensaid lower pawls support at least one record and the lower end of saiddrive shaft is unsupported.

4. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1, further comprising abearing interposed between said drive shaft and said spindle shell toenable said drive shaft to move vertically and to rotate relative tosaid spindle shell.

5. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein the lower endsof said upper pawls and the upper ends of said lower pawls are spaced adistance that is substantially equal to one and a half times thethickness of a record.

6. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said biasingmeans for said lower pawls and said upper pawl support are springs.

7. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said first camhas hooks for engaging said lower pawls. I

8. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said secondcam is conical in shape.

1. A spindle for a record changer having a control mechanism, saidspindle comprising: a drive shaft, a spindle shell surrounding saiddrive shaft, said spindle shell being formed with windows, said driveshaft adapted to move vertically in said shell and rotate in eitherdirection in response to operation of the control mechanism of therecord player, a lower pawl support mounted on said drive shaft, saidlOwer pawl support being keyed to said spindle shell to allow verticalmovement relative thereto, but prevent rotational movement relativethereto, lower pawls for supporting records, said pawls being pivotallyconnected to said lower pawl support and being movable to open andclosed positions, means cooperating with said lower pawl support forbiasing each of said lower pawls to an open position, a first camengaged with said drive shaft and engageable with said lower pawls tomove them to a closed position in response to rotation of said driveshaft, an upper pawl support mounted on said drive shaft, means forbiasing said upper pawl support in a downward direction, a spindle shellsurrounding said drive shaft, a second cam fixed to said spindle shellbelow said upper pawl support, and upper pawls for supporting records,said upper pawls being mounted on said upper pawl support and beingmovable to an open position by engagement with said second cam when saiddrive shaft moves downwardly and said upper pawl support is in its lowerposition, said upper pawls being movable to a closed position byengagement with said spindle shell when said drive shaft is movedupwardly and said upper pawl support is in its upper position said upperand lower pawls are projected through said windows in said open positionand retracted through said windows in a closed position.
 1. A spindlefor a record changer having a control mechanism, said spindlecomprising: a drive shaft, a spindle shell surrounding said drive shaft,said spindle shell being formed with windows, said drive shaft adaptedto move vertically in said shell and rotate in either direction inresponse to operation of the control mechanism of the record player, alower pawl support mounted on said drive shaft, said lOwer pawl supportbeing keyed to said spindle shell to allow vertical movement relativethereto, but prevent rotational movement relative thereto, lower pawlsfor supporting records, said pawls being pivotally connected to saidlower pawl support and being movable to open and closed positions, meanscooperating with said lower pawl support for biasing each of said lowerpawls to an open position, a first cam engaged with said drive shaft andengageable with said lower pawls to move them to a closed position inresponse to rotation of said drive shaft, an upper pawl support mountedon said drive shaft, means for biasing said upper pawl support in adownward direction, a spindle shell surrounding said drive shaft, asecond cam fixed to said spindle shell below said upper pawl support,and upper pawls for supporting records, said upper pawls being mountedon said upper pawl support and being movable to an open position byengagement with said second cam when said drive shaft moves downwardlyand said upper pawl support is in its lower position, said upper pawlsbeing movable to a closed position by engagement with said spindle shellwhen said drive shaft is moved upwardly and said upper pawl support isin its upper position said upper and lower pawls are projected throughsaid windows in said open position and retracted through said windows ina closed position.
 2. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1wherein there are three lower pawls and three upper pawls.
 3. Arecord-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said drive shaft isadapted to move downwardly relative to said spindle shell when saidlower pawls support at least one record and the lower end of said driveshaft is unsupported.
 4. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1,further comprising a bearing interposed between said drive shaft andsaid spindle shell to enable said drive shaft to move vertically and torotate relative to said spindle shell.
 5. A record-changer spindle asrecited in claim 1 wherein the lower ends of said upper pawls and theupper ends of said lower pawls are spaced a distance that issubstantially equal to one and a half times the thickness of a record.6. A record-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said biasingmeans for said lower pawls and said upper pawl support are springs.
 7. Arecord-changer spindle as recited in claim 1 wherein said first cam hashooks for engaging said lower pawls.